总统唐纳德·特朗普周三，他威胁说，他可能会“切断”对那些不复课的学校的资助，尽管目前还不清楚联邦政府会如何对州和地方学校系统施加巨大的财政压力。
总统还表示，他不仅不同意公众对学校开放的指导健康疾病控制和预防中心的专家称之为“非常困难和昂贵”，但是“我会和他们见面的!”-暗示他会向他们施压放松指导方针。
特朗普说:“民主党人认为，如果美国学校在11月大选前开学，在政治上对他们不利，但对孩子和家庭很重要。”推特，指的是民主党人。"如果不开放，可能会切断资金来源!"
特朗普没有提供证据证明，如果学校重新开学，民主党人“认为这在政治上对他们不利。”他认为重开学校帮助父母重返工作岗位对经济复苏和他的连任努力至关重要。
周二，特朗普威胁要对抵制的州长“施压”。
公共卫生专家普遍表示，如果采取预防措施，学校可以重新开放，但警告说，一些州的病例上升可能会使任何计划复杂化。
2020年6月1日，凤凰城，沙漠高地预备学校的特殊教育人员克里斯蒂娜·华盛顿走过学校的一系列桌椅。罗斯·富兰克林/美联社档案
美国学校的大部分控制权和资金来自州和地方政府。
在周三晚些时候的新闻发布会上，当被问及特朗普的资金威胁时，领导白宫冠状病毒特别工作组的副总统迈克·彭斯暗示，白宫将试图在未来与冠状病毒相关的立法中，将一些资金与学校复课挂钩。
在回答ABC新闻记者Jordyn Phelps的一个问题时，他说:“在我们与国会就下一轮的州政府支持进行合作的时候，我们会想办法给各州一个强有力的激励和鼓励，让孩子们回到学校。”
彭斯说，联邦政府是“来帮助”的，“我们不希望联邦指导取代州和地方的法律、规则和指导。”
与此同时，特朗普在周三的另一条推文中抨击了疾控中心——一个由他任命的人管理的联邦机构——为帮助教育机构重新开放而提出的建议。
2020年6月22日，印第安纳波利斯，黛安·托梅在麦克莱兰小学打扫教室。达隆·卡明斯/美联社，档案
特朗普说:“我不同意@CDCgov关于开办学校的非常严格和昂贵的指导方针。”书写。“尽管他们希望学校开放，但他们要求学校做一些非常不切实际的事情。我会和他们见面的!!!”
疾病预防控制中心指导方针，鼓励学校教职员工和学生“每天采取预防措施防止呼吸道疾病的传播”，如洗手和生病时呆在家里。
该机构表示，在某些情况下，大型集会和实地考察应该取消，如果病毒传播加快，学校可能需要停课数周。
2020年7月8日，美国副总统迈克·彭斯作为劳工部长尤金·斯卡利亚(Eugene Scalia)、卫生与公众服务部部长亚历克斯·阿扎尔(Alex Azar)、教育部长贝特西·德沃斯(Betsy DeVos)、白宫冠状病毒应对协调员黛博拉·比克斯(Deborah Birx)、海军上将布雷特·吉罗(Brett Giroir)、美国卫生与公众服务部卫生部长助理以及疾病控制与预防中心主任罗伯特·雷德菲尔德(Robert)在华盛顿出席白宫冠状病毒工作队新闻发布会时发表讲话。亚历克斯·王/盖蒂图像公司
彭斯说，他与特朗普进行了交谈，总统的推文反映了总统的“领导力”和“愿望”，即不要让指导“成为学校不开放的理由。”
彭斯说:“我认为，总统今天上午所说的是，如果疾控中心的建议中有一些方面是规定性的，或者作为阻碍儿童重返校园的一个障碍，我们希望，我们希望州长、地方官员和教育领导人知道，我们在这里与他们合作，支持他们正在实施的措施。”
疾病预防控制中心主任罗伯特·雷德菲尔德说，如果人们把这些指导方针作为不开办学校的借口，那将是“令人失望的”，而且这些指导方针“并不意味着是规定性的。”
雷德菲尔德在新闻发布会上说:“我想非常清楚地表明，疾病预防控制中心的指导方针的目的并不是作为关闭学校的理由。”“我们准备与每所学校、每一个司法管辖区合作，帮助他们使用我们建议的不同策略来帮助他们安全地完成这项工作，以便他们为这些学校制定最佳策略。”121450
2020年7月7日，美国总统唐纳德·特朗普在白宫东厅举行的一场关于在冠状病毒大流行中重新开放学校的活动中发表讲话，他的两侧是副总统迈克·彭斯和第一夫人梅兰妮·特朗普。凯文·拉马克/路透社
他后来补充说，“重要的是，我们不要感情用事，但我们的行动是基于数据的。”
雷德菲尔德说，疾病控制和预防中心“即将出台”他所说的针对K-12群体、父母和看护者的“一系列不同的附加指南”。他说，这些措施将涵盖症状监测、面罩的来龙去脉以及“监测其程序”的系统。
虽然联邦官员对州和地方当局如何管理学校系统的影响有限，但教育部长Betsy DeVos坚定不移地向学区发出信息:他们必须重新开放。
在一些学区，课程通常在下个月初就开始了。
DeVos告诉记者:“最终这不是一个学校是否应该重新开放的问题。”“这只是一个如何的问题。它们必须完全开放，必须充分运作，如何做到这一点最好由教育和社区领导人决定。”
Trump threatens to 'cut off funding' for schools that don't reopen amid pandemic
PresidentDonald Trumpon Wednesday threatened he "may cut off funding" for schools that do not reopen, although it was unclear how the federal government could exert significant financial pressure on state and local school systems.
The president also said he not only disagreed with guidance on school openings from publichealthexperts at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention -- calling it "very tough & expensive" -- but that "I will be meeting with them!" -- suggesting he would pressure them to relax the guidelines.
"The Dems think it would be bad for them politically if U.S. schools open before the November Election, but is important for the children & families," Trumptweeted, referring to Democrats. "May cut off funding if not open!"
Trump did not provide evidence that Democrats "think it would be bad for them politically" if schools reopened. He sees reopening schools to help parents go back to work as critical to an economic comeback -- and his reelection effort.
On Tuesday, Trump threatened to "put pressure" on governors who resisted.
Public health experts have generally said that schools can be reopened if precautions are taken but warned rising cases in some states could complicate any plans.
Most control of -- and funding for -- schools in the United States comes from state and local governments.
Asked about Trump's funding threat at a news conference later on Wednesday, Vice President Mike Pence, who leads the White House's coronavirus task force, suggested the White House would attempt to tie some money in future coronavirus-related legislation to schools reopening.
“As we work with Congress on the next round of state support, we are going to be looking for ways to give states a strong incentive and an encouragement to get kids back to school," he said in response to a question from ABC News' Jordyn Phelps.
Pence said the federal government was "here to help" and that "we don’t want federal guidance to be a substitute for state and local laws and rules and guidance."
Trump, meanwhile, in another Wednesday tweet attacked the CDC -- a federal agency run by a man he appointed -- for recommendations it had made to help educational institutions reopen.
"I disagree with @CDCgov on their very tough & expensive guidelines for opening schools," Trumpwrote. "While they want them open, they are asking schools to do very impractical things. I will be meeting with them!!!"
The CDC'sguidelines, which are voluntary, encourage school staff and students "to take everyday preventive actions to prevent the spread of respiratory illnesses" -- like washing hands and staying home while sick.
The agency said that under certain circumstances, large gatherings and field trips should be cancelled, and that if the virus's spread picks up, schools may need to be dismissed for weeks.
Pence said he spoke with Trump and that the president's tweet reflected the president's "leadership" and "desire" for the guidance to not "be a reason why schools don't open."
"I think what the president was saying this morning is that, if there are aspects of the CDC’s recommendations that are prescriptive or that serve to -- as a, as a barrier to kids getting back to school, we want -- we want governors and local officials and education leaders to know that we’re here to work with them, to support the measures they are putting into place," Pence said.
CDC Director Robert Redfield said it would be "disappointing" if people used the guidelines as an excuse for not opening schools and that they were "not meant to be prescriptive."
"I want to make it very clear that it is not the intent of CDC's guidelines is to be used as a rationale to keep schools closed," Redfield said at the news conference. "We are prepared to work with each school, each jurisdiction to help them use the different strategies that we propose that help do this safely so they come up with the optimal strategy for those schools." 121450
He later added that it was "important that we don't react emotionally, but we act based on data."
Redfield said the CDC was "about to put out" what he called "a series of different -- additional guidelines" for the K-12 community and for parents and caregivers. He said they would cover symptom surveillance, the ins and outs of face masks, and systems to "monitor their programs."
While federal officials have limited influence on how state and local authorities run their school systems, Education SecretaryBetsy DeVoswas unflinching in her message to school districts: They must reopen.
In some school districts, classes normally begin as soon as early next month.
"Ultimately it's not a matter of if schools should reopen," DeVos told reporters. "It's simply a matter of how. They must fully open, and they must be fully operational and how that happens is best left to education and community leaders."
